8.15.2016

This
little write-up comes from the heart as a passionate plea to parents in the
shared concern for our children.

It’s
been hard to pastor in a conservative church today, but not for the reasons
that you might think. It’s not that we are constantly being attacked from the
outside for our music, confessions, and worship style. I’m sure it happens, but
most people who come to us find what we are doing as unique and refreshing,
especially if they are from a broadly evangelical background. It’s been one of
the pleasant surprises of the ministry.

My
biggest challenge over the many years of my ministry has come from those on the inside,
particularly parents between the ages of 45-60. There is one issue that has
produced the struggle: their young people are leaving the church.

Many
parents have watched for years the same old story happen over and over. As soon
as a young person returns from college, little to no interest is shown in
attending church. There seems to be no interest in the church of their upbringing. I share the concern and burden these parent's face.

It is in this struggle that parents often become bitter in their
home church, blaming the church for the departure, wanting to see the church change to retain their youth. This creates an oppressive environment of disgruntlement and embarrassment of the particular identity of their local church--stick in the muds, stuffy, etc. And how does our church compete when the church next door offers a much easier consumer-driven Christianity? A painful dilemma indeed.

But parents
often give little thought to how they have contributed to the problem.

With
this in mind, I have some kind suggestions that may help churches fight this
battle for their young people.

While
I don’t represent every pastor here or speak for them, these are ways I commit
to fight for the youth of our church. Hopefully other pastors can adopt the
same. In all these things I say: God helping me.

I will love your young people enough to preach
the whole counsel of God to them.I am
committed to God’s Word and I will tell them the whole truth.

I will call your young people to repentance and
faith. This won’t be easy.Some who have
yet to profess their faith will not like to be told they are wrong. The law
will hurt. Some may get angry at the stances I’m called to take. It may at
times seem like we’re losing the battle. But I’m committed to this fight for your
young people.

I will make known the riches of Jesus Christ and
his gospel to them. They will never be left without a way of escape. I want
them to enjoy Christ and his forgiveness and live in his peace.

I will stand for truth and expose error. I will
not pander to sinful desires for false worship. I am zealous to keep golden
calves out of the church. I know we live in day when people hate saying anybody
or anything is wrong, but I promise to tell them what is wrong and who is wrong
(as the inspired NT authors did) to protect them from the path of hell.

I will pray for your young people. It’s a battle
that must be fought with prayer. My door is always open for you to come to my
study and pray with me for them

Now here
are five ways parent’s can join in the spiritual fight for their young people to help stop the trend:

Bring them to church and show a delight for the
gospel. If you truly believe that the preaching of the gospel is the power of
God to save those who believe, then do all in your power to have your children
in worship at a very young age. Don’t let them leave to children’s church.
Train their minds to listen a sermon. It is God’s way of grace to them. They
must learn and see from you where the true power of God is found, in the
Word.Hold it high, and they will too.

Speak well of your pastor and leaders. More damage
is done when you speak evil of the church, the pastor, or the leaders before
your children. If you want them to have a positive view of the church, you must
show them one. Realize that before disgruntlement often comes a refusal to
accept God’s Word. A disgruntled and complaining spirit is a certain recipe to
drive them out.

Be willing to tell your children the truth and
call them to repentance through loving discipline. Far too many parents are
scared of their young people and let them do whatever they want to do. You are
responsible to discipline them and speak the truth to them in love. There is
right and wrong, teach and expose them both. If you stand for nothing, so will they. Why then would you expect them to stay in church?

Be an example to them in life of what it means to be godly. J.C. Ryle commenting on Lot’s worldliness says, “Lingering parents
seldom have godly children. The eye of the child drinks in far more than the
ear. A child will always observe what you do much more than what you say.” Be
an example to them in doctrine and in life.

Train them and pray for them. This means
gathering at the table to catechize and pray for them before their ears. It
also means means praying that God would make them born again by his Spirit. How
many people are bringing your child’s name in prayer to the throne of grace.
What a tragedy if God never hears from you about the salvation of your children!

So dear parents, I made a commitment to fight for your young people, will you?

11.04.2015

One of
the great problems in any current controversy is overreaction to a perceived
problem. If someone feels that one doctrine is being overemphasized, the way to
correct the problem must be to balance things out by emphasizing another
doctrine.At times, this is certainly
necessary and expected unless, of course, the theological priorities in the
correction get lost. In other words, there are certain theological categories
that if their logical priority is lost, the pursuit of balance can actually
make things worse.

This is
currently happening with many of the discussions regarding sanctification. Many
have diagnosed the “grace boys” movement as antinomian. In reaction to what
is assumed to be an overemphasis on justification and a narrow definition of
the gospel, there has been an aggressive effort to balance things back out by re-emphasizing
sanctification.

In
the past few years we have seen a plethora of articles by authors emphasizing
the necessity of good works for salvation and judgment by works. As I stated
elsewhere, the pastoral implications of this are being missed in the zeal to
correct perceived antinomianism. All of this has created an unhelpful citation
war. Present writers, hoping to regain balance, gain support for their positions
by stockpiling quotations from past theologians. While these theologians are
certainly worth citing, their work was done in their own contexts and with proper
theological ordering. This makes the interjection of their citations, pulled from their own contexts and inserted into our
current discussions, well, challenging to say the least.

10.31.2015

A while back Carl Trueman posted an article with a fair concern of the transformationalist ideals.Trueman writes,

Surely it is time to become realistic. It is time to drop the cultural elitism that poses as significant Christian transformation of culture but only really panders to nothing more than middle class tastes and hobbies.It is time to look again at the New Testament's teaching on the church as a sojourning people where here we have no lasting home."

10.19.2015

Years ago I
remember hearing an old wise elder say to me that if my sermon could be
accepted in a Jewish synagogue then it is not a distinctively Christian
sermon.I’ve thought a lot about that
over the years. What makes Christian sermons distinctively Christian? What
damage could be done in the life of the Christian church if our sermons lose
their distinctively Christian character?To answer that, of course, one would need to understand and appreciate what
makes a gospel message distinctively “gospel”.

To be sure,
the word “gospel” is used differently in the Scriptures.Robert Godfrey provides a helpful
observation:

Sometimes the
word gospel refers broadly to all aspects of the salvation and new life
that Jesus gives His people, and sometimes it is used narrowly to refer to what
Jesus does for us outside of us. In other words, sometimes the term gospel
refers broadly to Jesus’ work of justification and sanctification for and in
His people, and sometimes it refers narrowly to Jesus’ work of justification.

Godfrey also
makes the case that sometimes the word “gospel” refers more broadly to all the
New Testament fulfillment of what was promised in the Old Testament.It is in this sense that Mark uses “gospel”
when he says in chapter 1, “the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the
Son of God.” Mark is explaining the gospel as the person and work of Christ in
fulfillment on behalf of his people.

This is crucial
for understanding the overall theological intent and purpose of the gospel of
Mark.

10.09.2015

The following is a guest post by Pastor Mark Stromberg of the Lynden United Reformed Church. Since YWAM has established itself in Lynden, this article may help people think through some of the problems with the movement.

YWAM—My
Story

Apart from
the Northwest County fair, one of the largest community events in Lynden, Washington, is the Northwest Rasberry Festival.This year YWAM Montana and the founders of YWAM, Loren and Darlene
Cunningham, were present to conclude the Festival and promote the new YWAM base
which is going to find its home in the basement of the Dutch Mall on Front
Street.The theme for the promotional
event was “Make Jesus Famous”.During
Cunningham’s inspirational lecture he illustrated how the Bible has had a major
impact upon cultures around the world.The crowd was clearly enthusiastic about Cunningham’s presence in Lynden
and his inspiring message.

9.29.2015

In light of the current debates surrounding the doctrine of sanctification, we should be careful to stay close to the language of our confessions. With that in mind, Heidelberg Catechism, Lord's Day 114 asks the following:

114. Q.

But can those converted to God

keep these commandments perfectly?

A.

No.

In this life even the holiest

have only a small beginning

of this obedience.

Nevertheless, with earnest purpose

they do begin to live

not only according to some

but to all the commandments of God.

I have a few questions: If the "holiest" have only a "small beginning" of this new obedience, what are we to say about least holy in this life? Are they in danger with less than a small beginning of holiness? How can the least holy who lack even a small beginning of holiness find any comfort?

9.28.2015

I have been following, again, the current internet debates over sanctification. It's troubling. Have we really not figured this out yet? Did the Reformation not make things clear for us? While it's not unhealthy to have brotherly discourse over these matters, I woke up this morning and read the following by Rick Philips at Reformation 21:

I can think of few messages more urgently needed by our worldly churches today than the necessity of pursuing practical holiness through obedience and good works. I realize that many even of our Reformed brothers would rather ignore James' teaching than work through its challenges, both doctrinally and practically. But as my friend insisted, "James is, you know, in the Bible.

7.13.2015

In his excellent book, “The Courage to be Protestant”, David Wells opens chapter two with a startling account of an Easter worship service.Wells writes, “It’s Easter morning 2006. And there lurking in the shadows, is a figure rarely seen in church. It’s Superman. Yes, Superman! He who leaps tall buildings in a single bound as he pursues evildoers.No, wait a minute. It’s not him. Actually it’s only the senior pastor all decked out as Superman ready to communicate the gospel to a new generation…”If this were playing on my MP3 player I’d hit stop at this point.Does that really occur anymore? Seriously? I think enough critique has happened by now that people have told their senior pastor to take off the Superman mask.Aren’t we done now with the superficial, ear-tickling pastor?

I have for some time been concerned that many churchgoers view the megachurch practices as so far out there that ignorance now prevails among Christians as to how subtle Satan is working in churches that claim to hold fast the truth.More needs to be said of what I have observed as artificial imitation or, as Martyn Lloyd Jones used to call it, pulpiteering, in churches that are proud of their doctrinal heritage. Did you know that a preacher could be nothing more than a good actor? I’m hoping this brief write-up will help the churchgoer to be able to distinguish between those ministries that are sincere from those that are artificial imitations. There is a great difference between preaching and pretending to preach.

Who Was That Masked Man?

Philip Doddridge in his work “On the Delivery of Sermons” provides an extensive warning against theatrical preaching and its destructive consequences in the life of the church. Theatrical preaching occurs when a preacher attempts to “transport into the views, the feelings, and the circumstances of the person represented.” Theatrical preaching is the practice of acting what one is saying. It’s extremely detrimental to the spiritual life of the church.

6.27.2015

This last Friday is already designated as one of the most historic
victories in our nation’s history as a divided Supreme Court on Friday ruled
that same-sex couples can now marry nationwide.This landmark opinion, as it’s being described, now opens the door for all
gay and lesbian couples to have legally recognized marriages in all fifty
states.As soon as the announcement was
made, gay and lesbian couples swarmed the streets with victory screams and chants.
In short order, President Obama unequivocally spoke of the decision as a victory
for America.Within just a few hours,
America itself seemed to be enveloped with the symbol of gay pride: the
rainbow.

Within the last twenty four hours, the rainbow has appeared everywhere.I’ve seen pictures of the White House painted
with the colors of a rainbow.Silicon
Valley companies are implementing all sorts of creative ways to use the rainbow
as a sign of victory for the decision. Facebook has declared a celebration
allowing members to add a rainbow filter to their profile picture to make clear
those who support the decision.Twitter has
added a rainbow heart icon with the hash tag: Love wins. From Google to
Starbucks to At&T, the rainbow has become the new flag for America, from
sea to shining sea, America is now draped with the rainbow.

5.20.2015

What a great reminder from Calvin's letters to John Knox that we should moderate our rigor with regard to worship principles and ceremonies.

First Letter of 1555:

"Certainly no one I think who is possessed of sound judgment, will deny that lighted tapers, and crucifixes, and other trumpery of the same description, flow from superstition. When I lay it down for certain, that those who from free choice retain these things, are but too eager to drink from polluted dregs. Nor do I see for what reason a church should be burdened with these frivolous and useless, not to call them by their real name, pernicious ceremonies, when a pure and simple order of worship is in our power. But I check myself, lest I should seem to stir up a new strife, respecting a matter which, as I hear from, is happily set at rest."

Third Letter of 1561:

"With regard to ceremonies, I trust, even should you displease many, that you will moderate your rigor. Of course it is your duty to see that the church be purged of all defilements which flow from error or superstition...But with this exception, you are well aware that certain things should be tolerated even if you don't quite approve of them.

I am deeply afflicted, as you may well believe, that the nobles of your nation are split into factions, and it is not without reason that you are more distressed and tormented, because Satan is now plotting in the bosom of your church...but God is to be entreated that he may heal this evil also...For though your discord should spread no farther, already more than sufficient mischief has been done. It will then belong to your wisdom and equity, in order that kindly affections be kept up, sedulously to disperse whatever remains there may be of estrangement. "

12.23.2014

The other day I stumbled upon an
article by Farsch Askari lamenting what has happened to the Food Network. The article is well-worth reading. In the article, Askari describes how the Food
Network provided him a soothing release where he could escape from
the stresses of daily life. Watching the
food network was a blissful and inspiring experience, driving his imagination and
value for healthy eating as he watched real chefs in the kitchen craft their
delectable gourmet dishes.

But one day this all changed. The reason: Guy Feiri. What was once an authentic and stress
relieving experience, was now, suddenly, replaced by a so called “rock-n-roll,
unhealthy looking, food king.” Askari
goes on to describe how this one figure dramatically changed the entire course
of the Food Network. First, the Food
Network became personality-driven. The billabong
wearing, college garage band maniac—circa 1995—had a new method of speaking to
audience—he yells and speaks to the people like they’re five-year olds. Then things got worse. In the wake of Fieri’s
appearance, a host of other personalities began to dominate the network, well-known
personalities such as Rachel Ray and Bobby Flay. Askari asks, “Did the head of
their programming issue a mandate to seek out the most supremely irritating
people who may or may not be able to cook decent food…?

The second major shift is the
most perplexing: Healthy cooking no longer seemed to matter on the Food
Network. Guy Feiri is offering “concoctions
such as beer-battered meatball sandwiches, wrapped in a pizza and deep-fried in
lard” and for desert a “sheet cake dipped in pancake batter, dunked in butter
frosting and sprinkled with Pop-Tarts”—and he doesn’t even do any of the
cooking. Consequence? Askari says, “Guy’s trying killing us.”

As I read the article I thought
the most tragic consequence of the whole thing is when Askari laments the mass
exodus of genuinely talented chefs.
Quality crafted dishes and culinary art no longer seemed to matter
anymore, it became about ratings and personalities, a phenomenon that, in
Askari’s eyes, has ruined the Food Network. The real fault remains, says
Askari, with those who ever allowed this to happen.

Imagine for a minute substituting
everything Askari describes in terms of the church today. Would it be an unfair comparison?

I remember a time when coming to
church was valued. Whether it was ever truly valued as it should have been is
not what I am engaging, nor am I singing Mellencamp’s “Glory Days” with regard
to the church. I think know better than that. But
I do speak of a general value Christians placed upon going to church. There was
a time when people had a general
understanding of the value of worship.
At one time, across denominational lines, Christians used to gather
twice on the Lord’s Day for worship. It
was accepted that something special was happening on Sunday’s when God’s people
assembled together.

I know it’s out of vogue and
considered legalistic to mention dressing-up for church, but dress used to
convey in the church world something about what we believed we were doing. Church was considered to be the most reverent
and respectful act we did all week, and it earned our best preparation and
response. It was an escape for sinners,
to come in the presence of God and receive from his hand real food and drink of
eternal life—sacraments they “used” to be called.

It was intended to be refreshing. We sat
intently listening to God’s pastors open His Word with sermons well-crafted,
meditated upon, and prepared through the course of an entire week. Agreed, these
no name pastors may not have had the “X-Factor”, but they were offering us real
food, and it inspired us to want more of that food. It was satisfying to the soul. We understood
the gospel, grace, forgiveness, new life--the core doctrines of the Christian faith--and were inspired to keep our eyes
fixed on God’s savior.

But then one day it all changed. The reason? Well, I could answer that with naming about a
dozen dominant Hollywood-esque personalities that began to fill the
church. The America Chapter 11 hall of
faith (oops I mean “fame”) would certainly see figures such as ______, _______,
_______, etc. And what more shall I say, for the time would fail me to tell you
of, ______, _______, _______, _______, and_______. I would fill in the blanks but we’ve come
into a time when Christians don’t take well to mentioning of any names and I’m
afraid that if I begin to do this many will disregard the entire post.

But if I could mention a name, it
would be Joel Osteen. Like Askari’s
circa 1995 Feiri, Osteen reminds me a lot of Brandon on 90210, less so Dillon,
but nonetheless he still takes me to circa 1995--preppy style. It really
doesn’t matter who the figure is at the moment, we’ve become accustomed in Christianity
to have one, and I’m sure the next one is already on deck. Shelf-life for these
guys seems to be getting shorter and shorter even though a plethora of churches have now adopted the outdated model of yesterday's "Guy." What’s tragic is that in the wake
of each dominant figure that arises, we see greater departure from the historic
Christian faith. And the farther we get,
the more unrecognizable any Christian orthodoxy becomes for the new generation.

Askari’s overall concern is that
Food Network has morphed into something other than a “food network.” Think
about the consequences of this in terms of the church. First, the church today is personality-driven. We’re all about finding somebody relevant to
the next generation. You know this. I am
saying nothing new here. But we seem
ignorant or at least unwilling to see the consequences of our rock-star
Christianity. We have a host of
so-called pastors who are speaking to us like we’re idiots. Is a good sermon
now only measured by how funny the pastor was in telling me about his personal
home-life? And Christians today seem to love this. Sound familiar? Maybe this: "The prophets prophesy falsely and my people love to have it so (Jer. 5:31)." Askari says the Food Network speaks to people now as if they are in fifth-grade. What grade-level, theologically speaking, does today’s preaching deserve? You can answer.

We have a host of so-called
pastors who are not trained.
Consequence? Just as Guy Feiri
never does the cooking himself because he is not a trained chef, and forces upon the audience food that slowly kills, the church
today is fueled with so-called pastors who no longer preach. Is that a choice or it is because they do not know how? Whatever the answer, I do know this: training for the ministry doesn’t seem to matter at all anymore. And this has created a vacuum in which people no longer know what true
preaching even sounds like. Thus, the craft
of preparing a sermon has little to do anymore with the actual Word of God and
explaining its meaning. It’s now about
how witty the pastor can be in ticking the ears of the people by determining
how best he can give them only what they want to hear. It’s for this reason that the church often
amounts to nothing more than being obnoxious and silly, and that seems to win
the favor of the people.

Second, healthy food no longer
seems to matter in church today. We are
spiritually getting “sheet cake dipped in pancake batter, dunked in butter
frosting and sprinkled with Pop-Tarts.”
What ever happened to the meat and potatoes? Yes, sometimes as a child my mom made me eat the brussel sprouts, even though it wasn't always a pleasant experience, I needed them. Why can’t we have meaty expositions of God’s
Word that show the whole plan of salvation in Jesus Christ throughout
redemptive history? Do we even know what
that tastes like anymore and the spiritual nourishment it provides? If I may use
Askari’s concern: don’t we realize the food we are receiving today is killing
us and our children?

But then comes the most tragic of
consequences. There is now becoming an
“exodus” (shortage) of genuinely called pastors. If you find them, generally speaking, they
will be on the fringes, their churches small, full of struggle, undervalued,
and under a great amount of pressure due to the “Guy Feiri’s” next door offering
the “deep fried lard.” And I come back
to Askari’s concern that the real blame has to do with those who ever let
things get like this. Will the “Food
Network” ever again be what it was designed to be?

9.17.2014

Because of the
obsession with short-term results that may be contained with the terms and
demands of a single life, the interest of community is displaced by the
interest of career. The careerist
teacher judges himself, and is judged by his colleagues, not by the influence
he is having upon his students or the community, but by the number of his
publications, the size of his salary and the status of the place to which his
career has taken him thus far. And in
ambition he is where he is only temporarily; he is on his way to a more
lucrative and prestigious place. Because so few stay to be aware of the effects
of their works, teachers are not judged by their teaching, but by the
short-term incidentals of publication and “service.” That teaching is a
long-term service, that a teacher’s best work may be published in the children
of grandchildren of his students, cannot be considered, for the modern
educator, like his practical brethren in business and industry, will honor
nothing that he cannot see.

I can't imagine a
greater caution for those entering into Christian ministry (especially the
Reformed pastorate) than to apply what Berry is saying to our context. Consider
the painful application. Like modern teachers, pastors today are driven by
short-term results. We are most concerned with being judged by ourselves and
our colleagues as wise, intellectual, and accomplished. The ministry today is
no longer driven by concern for the spiritual lives of our people, but instead,
it's become a career, a platform for our own personal advancement. The ministry
has become a stepping stone to the next and better thing, something more
"lucrative and and prestigious." This manifests itself in constant
restlessness. We're not really satisfied.
We look over the fence constantly to the bigger and better.

All of this creates a
disconnect between what is a calling from God and our own aspirations of what
we want ministry to be. What is lost is the sense from the people that we
pastors love the sheep, are in it for the sheep, that we are servants given as
sacrifices for the service of their faith.
Because of our displaced motives, our pastoral work is no longer judged by the nature of what constitutes pastoral work. The consequence of this lack
of investment in people's lives is apparent, we now live in a generation that
measures and judges our pastoral work by the "short term
incidentals"of our publications and accomplishments, as we justify our
displaced aspirations in the advancement of our names under the guise of
"service." Does this mean that all incidentals are wrong? Of course not. But the motivations of our service should be checked as to whether they are an investment in us or the sacrificial love we are called to demonstrate to Christ's sheep.

What most interests
me here is Berry's astute observation that teaching is a long-term service that
the modern interpreter will never appreciate since he cannot see the
results. Berry says the best work of
teachers is published in the "children of grandchildren in students."
Oh that we would think of ministry this way!
This means, of course, that long-term investment in people's lives will
often seem unsuccessful and lackluster, and will receive little approbation
from a church world obsessed with numbers and immediate gratification. If God
gives us to see some of the fruit of our pastoral labor in this life, then we
should praise him for his kind providence. But our best work will be known
tomorrow. Our faithfulness will be known in the generations to come, after we
are dead and gone. This is God's way of doing ministry. It makes sense. This
way glory goes to him as our motives remain challenged.

Pastors who adopt this
modern paradigm for their ministry, dependent on being sustained by
their big name, personality, and so-called "service," lacking any real investment in the lives of the people,
tend to fall as quickly as they rose to power. This is, in my estimation, happening right now to Mark Driscoll and Mars Hill Church.

So I humbly caution
those entering into the pastoral ministry. Brothers, we're not careerists. Are
you in this for the up building of Christ's church, realizing that you may
never live to see the results of your work, or are you in it to make a great
name for yourself today?

5.29.2014

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1130 AM. Coverage extends from Ripon to Bakersfield! See coverage map. Visit
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8.17.2013

The following is my feeble attempt to wrestle through the 2k/neo-Calvinist controversy. This is written with sincere concern for the church and in love.

Last week Carl Trueman interacted with D.G. Hart’s new book on Calvinism: A History, and posted an article with a fair concern of the transformationalist ideals.Trueman writes,

Surely it is time to become realistic. It is time to drop the cultural elitism that poses as significant Christian transformation of culture but only really panders to nothing more than middle class tastes and hobbies.It is time to look again at the New Testament's teaching on the church as a sojourning people where here we have no lasting home."

8.10.2013

Where are all the young people going? Why do the visitors
never seem to stick?Why have there been
so many fights in our church history? Unfortunately, these are common questions
in the Reformed tradition.In my years
as a pastor, I have been shocked over how much antipathy there has been toward
Reformed churches.It took me more than
a few years to get a handle on why the reaction has been so strong.The sad reality is that many people have
witnessed fighting, church splits, abuses, hatreds, contentions, jealousies,
all undergirded by a hard kind of legalism within the confines of a closed
community that demonstrates nothing of the joy of Christ. What are we to think of these things? Are there any legitimate criticisms of the Reformed faith that we should evaluate?

THE GORDIAN KNOT
n. 1. An exceedingly complicated problem or deadlock. 2. An intricate knot tied by King Gordius of Phrygia and cut by Alexander the Great with his sword after hearing an oracle promise that whoever could undo it would be the next ruler of Asia.

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